I've heard this is a completely "bolt-in" swap... could that possibly be true??? There's a guy I know of who has both auto and manual ****** drive trains... is one better than the other in the block oiling dept.? (Like in '53?) Thanks in advance! -ns
were talkin about a car right? If so 54 235 has side motor mounts, 52 216 splash oiler dosent. You will have to fab these up which is easy, Automatic powerglides ****, no balls behind the 6. While your doin all this work, why dont you take the 54 235 and put a good ****** and open drive behind it?
I actually have a splash oiler 235 with the tall side mounts... and I wanna keep my 3 spd. Oh yeah, he's got two '54 four-doors and my '52 is a coupe. ns
That's cool... I'm really looking to find out how "bolt-in" this swap is. I think the motor mounts and locations are the same, I'm concerned with bell housing and ****** mounts, as well as rear-end locations spring perches, etc. Thanks!
52 has odd mounts, they differed some from older (and I think newer) mounts. If you have your car and can look at his it should be pretty easy to compare one to the other. 49-54 rearends are all the same. If you're keeping your manual, you're not changing any of that anyhow, unless you put a PG car rear in it. About the only thing they messed with at all, ch***is-wise, before '55 was the motor mounts. And of course changing the brakes in '51.
What you want is: The better of the 2 '54 engines A '54 3 speed trans (has needle bearing cluster vs. bushings) A '54 steering gear A '54 rear axle ***'y from a PG (unless your '52 was a PG) All these parts do indeed bolt into a '52
Yeah! Now we be gettin' somewhere! The only question left unanswered is: Are the motor mount bosses in the same location on '52 and '54 235s??? Somethin' tells me they just might be... Anybody? ns
A 54 p***enger car motor should bolt straight into a 52 p***enger car, from 52 to 54 they used the same side mount ***y. 51 was still front mount I believe and in 55 they changed again with the new style frames. I have a 54 235 that has the mounting holes in the same locations as the mounting holes on my 52 216.....Oh and i have a 54 Powerglide rear end as well, you need to have the yoke for the PG so I've been told as you use the front half of the 3 speed u-joint mated the the rear half of the PG ***y..
What 302GMC said. I would add that the PG engine would have hydraulic lifters, and the stick engine would be solids. Stovebolts are better off with solids. The PG engine is capable of running either type, but the stick engine can only run solids as it doesn't have the lifter bores cross drilled.
My '52 had a 216, and a front mount. Were those brackets on the either side that I grinded off motor mounts?
for what it's worth, we dropped a '54 235 into my '49 sedan, and the only changes were the front motor mounts and the throttle linkage pivot. We used the original 3 speed 'box, bell housing and starter motor. Everything mounted up first time.
I'm looking for a front mount set-up for a 216 project, anybody have a spare it's going into a custom frame..
I put a '54 powerglide engine out of a 4 door sedan into a '50 coupe no problem. It had the front mounts, i didn't even need the side mounts. Fits right in! The exhaust even bolted right in. also get the catalog from Patrick's in AZ. They had some good info on the swap and hop up parts for striaght 6's.
So does this mean that the tail section of a 3 speed is interchangable with that of a powerglide? I have an opportunity for a '55 powerglide that is obviously open drive but was wondering how easy it would be to convert to closed, and as I already have a 3 speed I was just wondering if it would work.
Wrong-un: The early powerglide was set up for the torque tube, I'm not sure if the rear section of a torque tube powerglide ****** will bolt onto a later open drive ****** or not (I'm thinking not though). What I was talking about was just related to the u-joint ***y, both the powerglide & 3 speed are enclosed torque tube set ups and I had info that stated you needed to use the powerglide yoke with the powerglide rear end and keep the front half of the u-joint that came on the 3 speed when putting the powerglide rear end in a 3 speed car. If you are going to put the later PG in your car you may as well just convert the rear end to open drive, I'm betting there are some UK products that would have a great rear axle to fit a 50's Chevy.... Oh yeah and I'm pretty sure the rear section of a torque tube 3 speed ****** will not bolt up to an open drive PG ******....
No, the '54 motors were all full pressure, only '53 had splash on the stick cars and pressure on the PG cars.
I guess I should keep looking for a torque tube powerglide then. Anyone know of one going spare in the California area? I'll be over in a month or so to pick up the car it's to go in.
I'll ask around on the PG, the guy I got my rear end from asked me if I wanted the PG as well, I said nope so I think he tossed it in the dump! Why do you want the PG over the 3 speed anyway?
The reason for it being converted is that my girlfriend has arthritis and it's easier for her to drive an automatic. It's her car so I just get to do the work! If you could have an ask if the powerglide is still available I'd be grateful. Thanks, Neil. PS: Sorry for hijacking the thread!
not sure if this is the good thread for this, but would there be any problems getting a 55 235 from a truck into a 53 sedan? i know the mounts maybe on the front, but besides that, any thoughts to consider? thanks!
Beside the abscense of mount bosses in the correct location for a '53, the '55 engine has a different style water pump that will either have to be shortened, or discarded in favor of an already shortened pump that can be purchased from one of the inline suppliers. You may be able to get away with a forward repositioning of the radiator instead.
ya, that explains it. didnt know if there would be a problem mounting that to the stock 3 sp ****** either... thanks for the heads up!
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